RIP Senator Edward Kennedy - One of the best

by Robert Wilkinson

Despite his many flaws which are easily attacked by people of lesser stature and narrow views, Senator Edward Kennedy was one of the best leaders in American history.

While for many years his life was a mess, and I certainly didn't agree with how he lived his early life, I believe he ultimately transcended his party boy label to become a truly great American statesman. He did incalculable good for our country, and remained a vocal conscience for all we could be, both as a nation and as individuals. In this sense he was truly like his martyred brothers. For those who do not remember, from the NY Times:

"Mr. Kennedy left his mark on legislation concerning civil rights, health care, education, voting rights and labor.... He led the Congressional effort to impose sanctions on South Africa over apartheid, pushed for peace in Northern Ireland, won a ban on arms sales to the dictatorship in Chile and denounced the Vietnam War. In 2002, he voted against authorizing the Iraq war; later, he called that opposition "the best vote I’ve made in my 44 years in the United States Senate."

Here's more:

He led the fight for the 18-year-old vote, the abolition of the draft, deregulation of the airline and trucking industries, and the post-Watergate campaign finance legislation. He was deeply involved in renewals of the Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing law of 1968. He helped establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He built federal support for community health care centers, increased cancer research financing and helped create the Meals on Wheels program. He was a major proponent of a health and nutrition program for pregnant women and infants.

Also from the Times article, a very interesting insight: "As James Sterling Young, the director of a Kennedy Oral History Project at the University of Virginia, put it: 'Most people grow up and go into politics. The Kennedys go into politics and then they grow up.'"

He also championed teachers' unions, women's rights, the Freedom of Information Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. For 40 years he fought for universal health coverage, and in that period he also vastly expanded the network of neighborhood clinics, helped create COBRA (portable insurance) as well as Medicare laws dealing with prescriptions and sponsored the Family and Medical Leave Act.

While no politician is completely clean (most are thoroughly corrupt) and I didn't agree with all that he said, Edward Kennedy was fearless in standing for something better in the face of the reactionary factions who profit from tearing this country apart for selfish motives and authoritarian obsessions. I suppose we can all take some small comfort that he wasn't assassinated by those who took out his brothers and nephew.

He was the ultimate survivor, with all the desperation and baggage that involves. The weight on his shoulders was of a magnitude that very few ever experience. When evaluating his strengths and flaws, that must certainly factor in.

For those of us who remember the assassination of a dream in 1968, imagine this moment, after his brother Robert was shot (from the Times article):

Frank Mankiewicz, Robert’s press secretary, saw Edward "leaning over the sink with the most awful expression on his face."

"Much more than agony, more than anguish — I don’t know if there’s a word for it," Mr. Mankiewicz said, recalling the encounter in "Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography," by Adam Clymer (William Morrow, 1999).

I was part of a generation that was profoundly impacted by the Kennedy tragedies and leadership. As a tribute to the spirit of a man who did the best he could with the blessings and demons that were a part of his life, I leave you with something he said a long time ago that still burns as a beacon for us all:

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

RIP, Teddy. 3:58 am, Feb 22, 1932 to ("shortly before midnight") August 25, 2009 is not a bad run for a Kennedy.

(Since hope is rarer than criticism. I will ask that regardless of your political views, please do not leave comments trashing him or what he stood for. That's not appropriate to the spirit of this moment of passing.)

Comments

Dear Ted,

An Irish blessing to speed you on your way...

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May The Lady hold you in the palm of Her hand.

Hi all - Here's a great article from TruthOut, now doing a fundraising thing (we are too, but that's another thing entirely!) If you're inclined, give what you can to this remarkable news source. The piece was done 7 years ago by Jack Newfield. From the Nation, The Senate's Fighting Liberal

....a leader, an inspiration, and a true gift...my heart hurts even as I smile thinking of his blessed and joyous reunion... it will take many to fill his role in the spirit of service - blessings Uncle Teddy

Thank you Robert for the beautiful tribute and insights of Ted Kennedy, one of the "Old Oak Trees" of our country. In much gratitude for his incredible legacy. May others be inspired by his best and learn from his worst, as he himself strove to do. He sure loved and believed in this country throughout it all! Blessings to all he called family.

"On the morning of the day before the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin, Senator Ted Kennedy called the White House to inquire if it was appropriate to bring to the burial some earth from Arlington National Cemetery. The answer was essentially a shrug: Who knows? Unadvised, the senator carried a shopping bag onto the plane, filled with earth he had himself dug the afternoon before from the graves of his two murdered brothers. And at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, after waiting for the crowd and the cameras to disperse, he dropped to his hands and knees, and gently placed that earth on the grave of the murdered prime minister.

No spin, no photo op; a man unreasonably familiar with bidding farewell to slain heroes, a man in mourning, quietly making tangible a miserable connection."

Senator Kennedy's passing ends an era we may never see again. His desire and willingness to help the disadvantaged in society stands in stark contrast to those who would favor the rich and powerful at the expense of those less fortunate. He truly was a representative of the people. He will be missed.

I believe he greatly inspired another generation of Kennedys and everyone else who watched and loved him. Another one of his gifts. His mother and his family were at the forefront of "a service to others." I believe much more will flow from here. I'm so happy he lived to witness Obama's inauguration. Much gratitude and RIP Senator Teddy.

Growing up an Aquarian in the Sixties made me very early aware of the wide world, even though I was growing up in the westernmost European country in Europe, Portugal.

From watching man's landing on the Moon, age seven (which meant a special authorization from Father to stay up all night, due to time difference in Portugal) to all that went on happening in our world, you and your Familly became a PRESENCE in my life very early, and never left it.

I see through any of your flaws - would you be a real HUMAN BEING if you did not have them? But GREATER are your undeniable QUALITIES and your SPIRIT OF SERVICE to MANKIND.

Lissening to the episode of the refuzeniks I could only feel how GLOBAL a citizen you were. I miss you already. May your Soul go on to ever greater accomplishments.

Despite his many flaws 'which are easily attacked by people of lesser stature and narrow views', Senator Edward Kennedy was one of the best leaders in American history.

So you deal with this by insulting (up front, less they dare to) anyone who may question how such a powerful and influential man/family got away with so much? Yes, he was a great man, and flawed - but he was still accountable and responsible for everything he did in his life, and it is ok, in my view, for folks to challenge that history if they wish. If everyone ignores the 'bad' stuff, just because the good stuff seems so incredibly good - we are in danger of sleeping on the job. Many powerful people/leaders get away with it through smoke and mirrors. You are not advocating that surely?

Hi Kate - No, none of us should go to sleep when it comes to the elites who are destroying our republic. However, You infer I'm insulting "anyone who may question." I'm not. That's an extreme statement on your part. I'm merely stating up front that I've read many hundreds of comments in various newspaper articles about Teddy that are grotesque in their attacks on a man who made his share of mistakes but also did our country a ton of good.

It's easy for trolls to attack, even state erroneous things about his life, which they have in great number. Harder to cope with the reality that one of the greatest legislators in American history had very human flaws, which he freely admits in great detail in his memoirs. Not much self-serving anything, given he knew he'd be dead before they came out. While it's good to challenge the official accounts of anything, in this case I've read hundreds of outright lies and fabrications in public forums. That's dishonest challenging.

If you're truly concerned about the smoke and mirrors of our political reality, then you may want to do some research about more important deceptions than whatever Teddy did or didn't. Like who used smoke and mirrors to get away with assassinating both of his brothers? Or Malcolm or Martin or Paul Wellstone or John Jr.? How about WTC #7? And if you are truly interested in how some powerful men really got away with some bad things, you may want to check out Prescott Bush and his son's connnections with some really REALLY bad guys. All of these involve truly "bad stuff," not just a former drunk, womanizer, and troubled Soul who dedicated his life to make our country a better place for the young, old, and infirm. Not to excuse his flaws, but I suspect you'd feel differently if you were a prominent public figure and all your brothers died violently and you were expected to live up to the promise of ALL of them. That's no excuse for bad behavior, but I do have compassion for him. No one should bear the load he carried, sometimes with more style than other times.